JERUSALEM – The Iranian government, distracted with the country's escalating protests, has failed to send regular payments to a Palestinian terrorist group, causing a major financial crisis for at least one jihadist organization, WND has learned.

Islamic Jihad is backed primarily by Iran. The group is responsible for most of the suicide bombings inside Israel since 2004, as well as for scores of deadly shootings and rocket attacks fired from Gaza aimed at nearby Israeli population centers.

While Hamas – also backed by Iran – joined Palestinian politics in 2005, Islamic Jihad has differentiated itself by rejecting the political process and dedicating itself largely to what it calls Palestinian "resistance."

Still, according to sources in Islamic Jihad, the group this week reached out to the Hamas leadership in Syria for help in making regular salary payments to Islamic Jihad militants, as well as to agencies and associations run by Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.